Southold Town passed a $290,000 bond for the increase and improvement of facilities of the Fishers Island Ferry District last Tuesday night.

The bond will cover replacement engines on the MV Munnatawket estimated to cost a maximum of $150,000. The Silver Eel Channel will also be dredged for a maximum cost of $140,000.

The Fishers Island Ferry District is self-supporting, so costs are paid by residents of the district, not the entire Town of Southold, Supervisor Scott Russell said in an email.

“The resolutions adopted by the Town board with reference to the Fishers Island Ferry District are part of an antiquated State law that requires town approval despite not having any authority or oversight of the district,” Mr. Russell stated. “Historically, the district operated under the full faith and credit of the town. It doesn’t anymore, and both the Town and the District have been working to change the law which would simply recognize the autonomy of the district.”

The resolution was passed unanimously.

rsiford@timesreview.com

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To the editor:

I read with a great deal of sadness of the passing of Rich Fiedler (“An artist who defined Greenport,” Sept. 22). I have several of his prints in my office that capture the unique beauty and character of eastern Long Island. Each election year in October, my staff and I would walk the Village of Greenport visiting with local merchants.

One of my favorite stops along the way was the Fiedler Gallery. Walking through the village would not have been the same unless we stopped at Rich’s art gallery to view his paintings and be entertained by his stories of his family’s rich local history. He was certainly a warm and talented individual.

This year I will make the trip with a heavy heart and miss the smile of a humble lifelong Greenport institution. We thank the Lord for giving Rich the many talents that he was able to share with those of us who greatly admired his warmth and ability.

The author is a New York State Senator.

Photo caption: Greenport artist Richard Fiedler used his Main Street gallery as a venue to showcase the work of other local artists. (Credit: Jeremy Garretson)

The post Featured Letter: Remembering talented artist Rich Fiedler appeared first on Suffolk Times.

Robert M. Schreiber died suddenly Sept, 26, 2018, at Stony Brook University Hospital on Long Island.

Bobby was born Nov. 10, 1940, in Newark, N.J. to Rose Berkowitz and Nathaniel Schreiber.
A graduate of Weequahic High School, he also attended Rutgers University.

His life was an odyssey and a remarkable adventure.

In 1972, he moved to Stockholm, Sweden, to sell Frye boots and bell-bottom jeans. Bringing with him not just American style but also American spirit, his business quickly flourished. As an entrepreneur, but more as an art lover, he began collecting Rorstrand Porcelain. Before he knew it, he had amassed the largest and most important collection in the world. This led to a 1999 exhibition at the American Craft Museum, and a reception was held at the Swedish Embassy in his honor.

An early adopter of the North Fork of Long Island, he put down roots in Cutchogue. He was dedicated to preserving open space. His 47-acre farm on Oregon Road is a great example, with grapes and sod still cultivated there.

Bobby leaves behind his son, Bjorn; namesake grandson, Robert; sister, Evanne; brother Dick, former wives, Maggie and Sherry plus dearest friend, Amy O’Donnell Marr.

He had a circle of devoted friends — including but certainly not limited to — Edward and Ellie Ash, Charles and Jenn Bank, Roger Perlman, Julie Balick, Susan Norris and Kerri and Justin Maylath.

He will be dearly missed by them all.

This is a paid notice.

The post Robert M. Schreiber appeared first on Suffolk Times.

Listings prepared for Times Review Media Group by Suffolk Research Service, dated Aug. 6-12, 2018.

Brought to you by:

BAITING HOLLOW (11933)

• Schandel, H & B to Carias & Llamas Milian, Noe & Denis, 65 Palane S (600-40-2-12.17), (R), $545,000

• Wild Family Trust to Latona, Michael & Amanda, 225 Baywood Dr (600-40-6-11), (R), $420,000

CALVERTON (11933)

• Dalton, D by Referee to 2140 River Road LLC, 2140 River Rd (600-138-1-23.1), (R), $195,000

CUTCHOGUE (11935)

• Hermsted, W & M to W12600 LLC, 1650 W Creek Ave (1000-110-1-5), (R), $620,000

• Hansen, E by Executor to Naglieri, Anthony, 1000 Fleetwood Rd (1000-137-5-8), (V), $285,000

FLANDERS (11901)

• Deutsche Bank Nat to Richardson Court LLC, 175 Oak Ave (900-145-1-55), (R), $201,075

• Kraskewicz, C to Guerrero, Miguel, 193 Maple Ave (900-145-3-40.1), (R), $280,900

GREENPORT (11944)

• Urban, P to Tasker Group LLC, 645 Tasker Ln (1000-33-4-25), (R), $460,000

• Menis, N Trust to Weingart, Jeffrey, 740 Willow Dr (1000-33-6-2), (R), $532,500

• Hayden, G & Trusts to Bayshore Road LLC, 3345 Bay Shore Rd (1000-53-6-9), (R), $975,000

• Gundersen, P to McDermott, Meghan, 215 Bridge St (1001-2-2-10.2), (R), $422,000

JAMESPORT (11947)

• Pugliese, R & R to Disegni, Serge, 866 Peconic Bay Blvd (600-88-1-16.4), (R), $750,000

MATTITUCK (11952)

• Blados Jr, F by Referee to US Bank Trust NA, 1415 Village Ln (1000-107-11-5), (R), $583,325

• Abonado, C & N to Shipman, Jonathan, 2286 Elijahs Ln (1000-108-3-5.43), (V), $405,000

ORIENT (11957)

• Kren, P to Sands, David, 930 Plum Island Ln (1000-15-7-9), (V), $190,000

PECONIC (11958)

• Lafreniere, D by Referee to BEERP LLC, 75 Peconic Ln (1000-75-5-9), (C), $352,000

RIVERHEAD (11901)

• Padavan, A to Chiofalo, Arlene, 14 Linda Ln E (600-15-3-14), (R), $410,000

• Vitrano, F Trust to Perez, Michael, 16 Hill Dr (600-16-1-8), (R), $385,000

• Seufert, K to Curott, Phyllis, 48 Linda Ln W (600-16-3-28), (R), $512,000

SOUTHOLD (11971)

• Alonzo, et al by Referee to South Holding Properties, 55465 Route 25 (1000-62-1-14.1), (R), $341,360

• Czartosieski, J to Sheehan, Brian, 51925 Tucker Ln (1000-63-5-8), (R), $542,000

• Fahey, S to Romano 2015 Family Trust, Robyn, 1415 N Parish Dr (1000-71-1-14), (R), $4,200,000

• Adler, F by Admr to Michael McCarrick Real Estate, 415 Lakeside Dr (1000-90-3-13), (V), $240,000

WADING RIVER (11792)

• Wiederkeher, H & K to Mangiamele, Christine, 24 Deer Run (600-57-1-7.19), (R), $530,000

(Key: Tax map numbers = District-Section-Block-Lot; (A) = agriculture; (R) = residential; (V) = vacant property; (C) = commercial; (R&E) = recreation & entertainment; (CS) = community services; (I) = industrial; (PS) = public service; (P) = park land; as determined from assessed values in the current tax rolls.)

The post Real Estate Transfers: Oct. 4, 2018 appeared first on Suffolk Times.

A bill passed by the Senate Tuesday will require the Federal Aviation Administration to reassess the unpopular North Shore Helicopter Route.

According to Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), the measure includes an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 that would require the FAA to consider the noise impacts on affected communities, improve altitude enforcement and consider alternative routes, such as an all-water route over the Atlantic Ocean.

Mr. Zeldin secured a bicameral agreement that was expected to pass the bill before FAA funding expired Sept. 30. But the necessary floor time needed in the Senate was hard to come by last week given the hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Instead, the Senate passed a short-term reauthorization bill to fund necessary FAA functions like air traffic control while extending the deadline to Oct. 7.

It was ultimately passed Tuesday.

The legislation, co-sponsored by Mr. Zeldin and Democratic representatives Grace Meng of Queens and Thomas Suozzi of Glen Cove, was approved by the House in April by a vote of 393-13 and now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

The measure will require the FAA to hold public hearings about the route in impacted communities and open a public comment period.

“I applaud my Senate colleagues for passing my proposal that requires the FAA to reassess the North Shore Route and pursue an all water route over the Atlantic Ocean,” Mr. Zeldin said in a press release, adding that the concerns of residents have been ignored for years. “Finally, the FAA is forced to listen.”

Despite the delayed vote, the legislation’s passage is welcome news after another summer of helicopter traffic.

“I applaud this bipartisan effort to finally bring relief to Riverhead residents,” Riverhead Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith said in a statement.

North Fork residents have said the route brings frequent and unwanted noise to the area.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said the route has become a quality of life issue.

“Southold has become a doormat to the helicopter operators as they head to and from the Hamptons,” he said in a statement calling for action.

The route dates back to 2012, when the FAA ruled that helicopters are required to fly over Long Island Sound and around Orient Point rather than fly over houses.

But pilots are allowed to deviate from the route due to safety or weather conditions, or when transitioning to a destination.

In response, both Riverhead and Southold towns formed task forces on helicopter noise, citing that helicopters frequently fly over the North Fork while heading to the South Shore.

The route was extended in 2014 and again in 2016 without consulting the public, Mr. Zeldin noted.

Riverhead Councilwoman Catherine Kent, who serves as Town Board liaison to the Helicopter Noise Task Force, said Riverhead has been “inundated” by air traffic in recent years.

“It starts Thursday night and goes through Monday evening,” she said. “We have this constant barrage of helicopters — and now seaplanes — over our homes. I’m pleased to see any legislation that addresses this urgent problem,” Ms. Kent said.

She also acknowledged that community members on the task force have not stopped speaking up on the issue.

“I think some of this legislation is a reaction to that,” she said.

tsmith@timesreview.com

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Sitting on bar stools at the former Galley Ho restaurant in New Suffolk on a fall evening in 1994, a small group of skippers planned a way to cap off the sailing season. 

Instead of just another of their usual weeknight excursions around Robins Island, the sailors would navigate their boats on an even longer trip around Shelter Island, starting and ending in Cutchogue Harbor.

The race would be called The Whitebread, a play on the Whitbread, a venerable round-the-world race now known as the Volvo Ocean Race.

“The decision was made over a couple of beers,” recalled Mike Drobet of Mattituck, a founding participant and early champion of the race. “We thought it would be a great way to end the year.”

They had little reason to believe the event would ever become the institution it now is.

The boats sail out of Cutchogue Harbor. (Credit: Grant Parpan)

This past Saturday, 72 boats sailed in Whitebread 25, a regatta many have come to count as their favorite event of the year.

“It’s more challenging than most any races in the area,” said Tom Wacker of Cutchogue, who has sailed around Shelter Island in the Whitebread annually since 1997. “We went to a Newport race week earlier in the summer and most of the races you’ll find, you don’t get the kind of currents you get going around Shelter Island.”

It’s that unique geology, with only narrow channels separating the island from Greenport and North Haven, that creates a heightened experience during the race. Mr. Wacker describes it as the “cork in the bottle of the Peconics,” creating fast currents and wind that fellow sailor Dave Kilbride of Nassau Point says “whips off land masses in different directions.”

“Then you blow past Shelter Island and suddenly you’re in Gardiners Bay and much bigger waves, much rougher, stronger winds,” Mr. Kilbride added. “So there’s a lot of contrast as we do this Whitebread Race from the shelter of Cutchogue Harbor, on the one extreme, and Gardiners Bay on the other.”

Aida Kuehn, who sailed along with her husband, Chris, and 5-year-old son Dan in the very first Whitebread, said they learned the hard way just how tricky the race could be. Of course, she had the added distinction of being five months pregnant with their son Stefan for that inaugural event.

She recalls that the weather was really bad that first year and the three-person crew felt the effects of it once they hit Gardiners Bay.

“My 5-year-old was trying to steer,” she recalled. “My husband was doing the sails and I needed to go to the bathroom every five minutes. So it was a really trying and exciting and crazy day.”

On Saturday, Ms. Kuehn was one of about a half-dozen spectators gathered at Cedar Beach in Southold to witness the starting leg of the race. They carried cameras with them to document friends and loved ones as they participate in what’s become an East End staple. Similar small gatherings occur each year on Shelter Island and other spots on the North and South forks. The sight of dozens of sailboats breezing by is something to behold, the spectators will tell you.

At its height, the Whitebread, which is organized each year by volunteers from the Peconic Bay Sailing Association, attracted about 125 boats from across the region. While that number has been cut in half in recent years — a trend consistent with sailing all over — there are still more boats entering the race than originally envisioned. Mr. Drobet said word of mouth and advertising efforts grew the number of participants from nine in 1994 to about 30 boats the following year. It took off from there.

Race chairman Bill Coster of Laurel said he first sailed on a friend’s boat for Whitebread 3 and has skippered his own vessel each year since.

“I didn’t finish the race,” he said of his performance in Whitebread 4. “I actually got hit in the head with the boom and I retired, as they say.”

The view from onboard “Trading Places.” (Credit: Michael Versandi)

But Mr. Coster continued, becoming one of the events more successful sailors, with three first-place finishes, an achievement he attributes to upgrading to a better boat, surrounding himself with a strong crew and gaining more knowledge himself. Among the crew members on his boat this year was Willie Fisher, another of the Whitebread’s founding members.

“I usually sail with extremely good people,” Mr. Coster said. “They’re smarter than I am and the boat’s faster than I am, so it’s a good combination. I make very good sandwiches.”

Asked if the Whitebread is more about competition or camaraderie, race participants say it’s a combination of both. They enjoy the social aspect of the event, which includes a post-race party at which they all share the stories of the day, but most of them are also out for victory.

“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t really want to win,” Mr. Wacker said. “But I think it’s a real good group of people out there. Good sports. I think most of us try like hell to win.”

Asked if that’s true for him, too, Mr. Coster answered with one word: “Yes.”

Mr. Kilbride, a longtime weekender on the North Fork and relative newbie to the competition, connects more to the social side of things.

“The group of people with whom we sail is varied. It is all sorts of backgrounds; weekenders, locals, men, women,” he said. “It defies stereotyping. And we are all great friends. That’s the one thing you can say that we have in common.”

Attracting newcomers will be the challenge of the Whitebread moving forward. The decline in participation is related to a growing interest in power boats, Mr. Kilbride estimated, adding that on his casual sailing excursions in the Peconics, he’s observed a shift in the types of boats he sees out on the water.

One way new sailors are getting involved in the Whitebread is through East End Youth Sailing, which had a crew of area high-schoolers compete this year. At the helm was skipper Dan Kuehn, the former 5-year-old who steered through rough conditions in the very first Whitebread.

As his mother walked Cedar Beach in Southold Saturday to get a closer look at the boats, she had a chance encounter with another mom whose son is on this year’s team.

“It’s very exciting,” said Jordi Krupnick, whose son Matthew, a Mattituck High School student, was sailing in his first Whitebread. “He was up this morning raring to go at 6 a.m., all ready to jump out on the boat.”

The crew of “Trading Places.” (Credit: Michael Versandi)

Even for established Whitebread veterans, the race day excitement is still there.

“I don’t sleep that well [the night before],” Mr. Coster said. “I spend a lot of time on preparation. I’m nervous until after the start and we’re on our way and you kind of feel settled on the boat. The start is the most trying, intense part of the race.”

It isn’t until the race is over, when you see the other boats coming in around you, that you truly get to enjoy the experience, the sailors agreed.

“That’s when you go into the beer cooler, which has been sealed shut to that point,” Mr. Kilbride added.

While stormy weather has made for quicker speeds and challenging times on the course in past years — even sinking a boat in 2014 — the 25th installment of the Whitebread was plagued by dull winds. That dominated the conversation at the post-race party, where the honorary chair, Captain Pat Mundus of Greenport, was recognized along with the original sailors from 1994.

The start of the race from Cedar Beach. (Credit: Grant Parpan)

Ultimately, the finish line was moved up Saturday to account for the poor conditions. Skipper Lee Oldak, sailing his boat Purple Haze out of the Breakwater Yacht Club in Sag Harbor, finished with the top adjusted time of 4 hours, 21 minutes, 47 seconds. August Sky, skippered out of the Lloyd Harbor and Centerport yacht clubs by Philip Walters, finished first among all non-spinnaker boats.

While a lack of wind might have dampened this year’s race, there’s little doubt the Whitebread will continue for years to come. To hear the participants tell it, there’s simply nothing like it.

“I have done some longer distance races, but I find this one satisfying, if not the most satisfying,” Mr. Coster said. “You’re racing in your home waters. … The conditions here are as good as anywhere up and down the East Coast.

“This is a gem that people are really unaware of.”

gparpan@timesreview.com

With reporting from Michael Versandi and Krysten Massa

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Similarly to judging books by their covers, one should not judge a soccer team solely by its record. That’s especially true when comparing two teams from different classifications and leagues.

Records can be misleading and are hardly a foolproof measure of what a team can do on the field.

“Absolutely not,” said Southold coach Andrew Sadowski.

Not that host Southold did such a thing when considering Hampton Bays, which had entered Thursday’s non-league game with a 2-7-1 overall record. The Class C First Settlers, a Suffolk County League VII team, didn’t take anything for granted when they took the field against Class A/League VI Hampton Bays.

“They had a lot of talent on their team,” Southold left wing Joe Hayes said. “We expected them to have a lot of skill on the ball, chemistry together, stringing a lot of passes together.”

Hampton Bays had all of the above — and a 2-1 win, thanks to a pair of first-half strikes from Debin Rivera, his 10th and 11th of the season.

Southold (6-5, 6-3) had more pressing concerns than looking at team records, though. Foremost among them is the status of their leading goal scorer this season, Daniel Palencia. Palencia, a sophomore forward who has netted 11 goals, lasted only about 10 minutes before leaving the field with an injury. He did not return.

Sadowski said Palencia has been dealing with a thigh bruise. “He had an opportunity to sprint at the ball and he just didn’t,” the coach said. “That was just to see what he could do, and he had a scoring chance and he just didn’t take it. It’s not worth keeping him in, especially when we have the rest of our season still to go for.”

Hayes said: “Since he’s our best goal scorer this year, it’s obviously a huge concern because we got to try to figure out who’s going to take his role in a game, and that’s always tough. I’m sure he’ll be back next week and ready to go.”

Southold’s next game will not be until Tuesday at Port Jefferson, so Palencia has some time to rest the thigh.

Palencia’s finishing value to the Settlers is unquestioned.

“He’s been scoring,” Sadowski said, “quality shots, too, not just little dinky things.”

After Palencia went to the bench, Moises Blanco, an outside back, was moved to the front line to play alongside Joe Silvestro.

Blanco, known for his high work rate, made his mark. Just 19 seconds into the second half he scored, capping off a sequence that began with passes by Silvestro and Hayes.

“I’m not surprised that he scored a goal because he wants to be a go-to player and his teammates know what he’s capable of,” said Sadowski.

Rivera showed his shooting ability by curling a long-range shot into the upper right corner just 20 seconds after the opening kickoff. Then, with 6:37 left in the half, he snapped in a quick shot, assisted by Francisco Funez.

Moments after Blanco’s goal, Hampton Bays nearly restored its two-goal advantage. Tajay Dallas met a corner kick from Cris Vasquez with a first-time volley off the crossbar.

But Southold had picked up its game noticeably in the second half when it outshot Hampton Bays by 9-1. Hampton Bays goalkeeper Mickey Bracken was kept busy, making 11 saves.

Southold goalie Cole Brigham (three saves) did not need to make a save in the second half.

“The second half was the big improvement, but when you allow yourself to go down two goals, it’s a huge battle to come back, especially when you’re playing a [Class] A school,” said Sadowski.

The industrious Silvestro did what he could.

“He’s a huge player for us,” Hayes said. “He moves off the ball, everything, He creates space for others. He creates space for himself. He gives us a lot of scoring chances with him on the field.”

Silvestro saw the game as a lost opportunity.

“Today we should have won, I think,” the junior said, adding: “It just comes back to that consistency. We didn’t come out in the first half; they scored in the first 30 seconds.”

Even so, Silvestro said the Settlers, who have clinched a playoff berth, have already exceeded his expectations. Asked what he wants to get out of this season, his face lit up.

“I want to win the whole league,” he said. “We’re gunning for it.”

A healthy Palencia sure would help.

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Southold’s Moises Blanco tries to make his way through Hampton Bays’ defensive wall of (from left) Cris Vasquez, Tajay Dallas and Francisco Funez in the first half. (Credit: Bob Liepa)

The post Boys Soccer: For the record, records can be deceiving appeared first on Suffolk Times.

Some parents make it look effortless, but for most, taking toddlers out to eat can be chaotic. Factor in spilled drinks, dropped silverware, short attention spans and brewing tantrums, and the entire experience can be unpleasant for parents and other diners alike.

Laura Brewer and her daughter Amber know they aren’t the only ones who’ve experienced the waning patience and “been there” nods from other guests while eating out with children.

That’s why the Flanders women invented a practical solution they say could help families enjoy dining together.

“We eat out a lot,” Laura said, and is frequently joined by another daughter, Ashley, her son-in-law and 2-year-old granddaughter Mya. “They could not enjoy a meal at all.”

Research on similar products proved fruitless, so Laura teamed up with Amber to brainstorm some ideas. “Once we had an idea of what we wanted, we jumped on it,” said Amber, 23.

Suddenly, they were meeting with lawyers, filing for patents and working with Design Edge, a Bethpage development firm that helped create a schematic drawing and prototype of their product, dubbed the EatNPlay Tiny Tray.

Developed by the mother-daughter team, the adjustable polypropylene plastic tray can clamp onto tables of varying thicknesses. It comes with a hook that can be used to attach toys and two raised bars that can hold a phone or tablet and prevent leaks and spills. And it all fits into a diaper bag.

“We’re coming up with revisions,” Amber said, to the prototype, like padding the plastic bar and adding rubber to the clamps to prevent damage to tables.

Mya and a cousin, 7-year-old Amara, were the first to try out the tray. “You can use it for a younger age or older ages,” Amber said, noting that during a recent family dinner, they attached a package of colored pencils for Amara instead of a toy.

Flanders residents Amber Brewer and her mother, Laura Brewer, invented the recently patented EatNPlay Tiny Tray. (Tara Smith photo)

With their newly minted patent, the duo is gearing up to enter a critical development stage that they hope will land their product in the homes of many new families.

The women plan to launch a campaign on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform that help brings creative projects to life, in November. Their goal is $50,000.

“It’s tough because if you don’t reach that goal, you don’t get any of the funds,” Amber said.

The tray, which will be manufactured in China, requires an injection mold — and that alone costs $17,000, Amber said. The remaining money will help pay for shipping and packaging.

“We’re not salespeople, so we’re trying to put ourselves out there,” Laura said, adding that they’re using social media and promotional marketing videos to spread the word about the upcoming campaign. Binge-watching “Shark Tank” gave them a few ideas.

“We heard about [Kickstarter] on ‘Shark Tank,’ ” Laura said, laughing.

If they reach their goal, they expect to manufacture around 3,300 trays, both pink and blue, that will retail for $29.99.

It would mean “everything,” to them, Amber said.

Mother and daughter both work at Peconic Bay Medical Center, where Laura is a housekeeper and Amber is a transporter. Before inventing the EatNPlay Tiny Tray, they would daydream constantly about potential business ventures.

“We wanted to do a project together. We were constantly for a year thinking about what we were going to do,” Laura said. The ideas ranged from opening a deli to starting a day care center.

Their shared love of children is what led them to where they are. “We’re hoping to help parents be able to enjoy a meal. Because going out to eat with a child can be hard,” Amber said.

Hearing herself referred to as an inventor is emotional for Laura, 50, as it reminds her of her late father, Arthur Schumpf.

“He wanted to be an inventor. I remember being in the living room and all you would hear is ‘Honey! I have an invention!,’ ” she recalled. “But he never had any money.”

If he could see her patent and prototype, Laura knows he’d be proud.

The team agrees that the adventure so far has been “remarkable,” and has pushed them far outside their comfort zone. “I’m scared to death,” Laura admits. “But you have to take that chance.”

The Kickstarter campaign for the EatNPlay Tiny Tray launches Nov. 1. To keep up with their progress, follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/MyLittleBInc.

tsmith@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Amara Schumpf, 7, uses a prototype of the EatNPlay Tiny Tray, developed by her grandmother and aunt, Laura and Amber Brewer. (Donna Wish photo) 

The post Local inventors aim to help families with children go out to dinner appeared first on Suffolk Times.

Retired Suffolk County Police sergeant Dennis W. Reichardt of Mattituck died Oct. 4 at home surrounded by his family. He was 64.

The family will receive visitors Wednesday, Oct. 10, and Thursday, Oct. 11, from 4 to 8 p.m. each day at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck. The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 12, at Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church in Mattituck, officiated by Monsignor Joseph W. Staudt.

Interment will follow at Sacred Heart R.C. Cemetery in Cutchogue.

A complete obituary will follow.

The post Dennis W. Reichardt appeared first on Suffolk Times.

During the preseason, there was a question as to who would be the goalkeeper for the Greenport/Southold field hockey team. Ella Mazzaferro was the team’s goalie last year — the first time she had ever played the position — but she was toying with the idea of returning as a field player.

She recalled: “I was like, ‘I need to be on the field. I want to be where the action’s at, like I really just want to be running up and down the field.”

For a brief spell, that thought was appealing to the Greenport High School sophomore. And then it hit her …

She said: “One day I said to myself, ‘I love [goalkeeping]. I really do. Why would I ever not want to do it?’ ”

Recalling that preseason period of uncertainty, Greenport coach Kaitlin Daniels initially acceded to Mazzaferro’s wish. Daniels told her she would put another player in goal.

“As soon as she saw somebody else in her spot, she knew that she had to go back in goal, and she found a new passion and love for the position that she had been questioning before, which is really important,” Daniels said. “Especially for goalies, it’s very important that they want to be there because of the amount of mental pressure that is put on them.”

Mazzaferro not only accepts the pressure, she embraces it. That’s a good thing, too, because she has been under a good deal of pressure and has faced an awful lot of shots this season.

“Ella has just been a really solid force for us this year, especially with such a young team,” said Daniels, a former goalie herself for Pierson/Bridgehampton and SUNY/Oswego. “We’re really still learning the game in a lot of ways. She’s had a lot of pressure put on her and she’s really risen to the occasion, making up to 30 saves a game, which is really almost unheard of … Even as a sophomore, she’s had to carry the team on her back in a lot of ways.”

Mazzaferro was a standout Friday as Greenport made an unsuccessful bid for its first win of the season. Despite some critical stops by the netminder, the Porters lost, 2-1, to Hampton Bays when Tara Brochu knocked in a sudden-victory goal 7 minutes and 31 seconds into overtime. The goal came amid a flurry of activity in front of the goal following back-to-back saves by Mazzaferro.

“It’s definitely intense and you just want to fight till the last minute because whoever scores, it is over,” Greenport offensive midfielder Brittany Walker said. “You don’t get another chance.”

This season hasn’t been kind to either Hampton Bays (3-8, 3-7 Suffolk County Division II) or last-place Greenport (0-10, 0-10).

It was Greenport’s second home game at Southold High School’s new artificial turf field. Their first was also a 2-1 overtime loss, to Babylon.

The two regulation-time goals both came within 1:59 of each other, beginning with Kailyn Havens’ goal off an assist from Brochu at 4:34. Then, Hayley Skrezec equalized off a rebound of a save by Abby Hoffmann (six saves).

“We’re definitely disappointed how we lost, as anyone would be, but we really did try our hardest,” Walker said. “I think we have played a lot better, especially since the last time we [played] them.”

That was a 4-2 loss earlier this season.

When Friday’s game went to seven-on-seven OT, Emma Quarty, Magda Rodriguez, Ava Torres, Jules Atkins, Andrea Ochoa and Walker were sent out to play in front of Mazzaferro. Mazzaferro (11 saves) turned in some of her best work in the later stages of the game. “I actually play best under pressure,” she said.

Walker said: “Ella has been doing great and we’re so happy to have her and so thankful. She’s been working really hard, doing everything we can really ask for.”

With the shortage of experience on the team, the writing was on the wall that this would be a tough season for Greenport. It’s hard to score a goal in field hockey, and if you don’t score enough of them, it’s hard to win. The Porters have been outscored, 44-4, and shut out seven times.

“We knew going into this season with such a young team that our record was not going to dictate how we felt about each game and the season overall,” Daniels said. “So, we try to focus on the growth from game to game rather than the score.”

Mazzaferro, meanwhile, is focusing on her job, and that is to keep balls out of the goal. In her two years on the team, she has played every game except one (illness) in goal.

It seems she wouldn’t have it any other way.

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Greenport/Southold goalkeeper Ella Mazzaferro with teammates Emma Quarty (13) and Emelyn Azurda (14) before Friday’s game. (Credit: Bob Liepa)

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A Greenport business owner called police last Monday around 10:08 a.m., after he noticed damage to the door handle of his store, police said. It appeared that an unknown person pried the door handle in attempt to gain access to the store, but did not gain entry, the report states.

• A Mattituck woman reported a political campaign sign stolen from the front lawn of a home on Grand Avenue last Thursday around noon, police said.

• A Mattituck man said that Friday around noon, an unknown person cut a cable holding Adirondack chairs and stole three chairs, valued at about $650 total, police said.

• A Cutchogue man reported Saturday a possible break-in to a home he looks after in Southold around 12:30 p.m., officials said. He reported that a door was kicked in, but nothing appeared to be taken, the report states.

Those who are named in police reports have not been convicted of any crime or violation. The charges against them may later be reduced or withdrawn, or they may be found innocent.

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Last week, buried inside a report released by the Trump administration, a startling prediction about climate change was made public. If nothing is done to put the brakes on rising temperatures, our planet could warm a staggering seven degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. That’s 82 years from now, easily within the lifetimes of current newborns and young children.

A seven-degree rise in Earth’s temperature would be disastrous for cities along our coastlines but an even larger catastrophe for many countries across the planet that would all but be destroyed by the heat, resulting in a massive refugee crisis.

As a story in The Washington Post stated, “Many coral reefs would dissolve in increasingly acidic oceans. Parts of Manhattan and Miami would be underwater without costly coastal defenses. Extreme heat waves would routinely smother large parts of the globe.”

In last week’s Suffolk Times and Riverhead News-Review, former Mattituck High School social studies teacher John Gibbons wrote that the Trump administration’s position that climate change is a hoax runs against the collective findings of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA and “thousands and thousands of climate scientists who work for the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change …”

Yet, here is the Trump administration offering a grim prediction on the possible rise in worldwide temperatures. Why? As the Post reported, “… the administration did not offer this dire forecast, premised on the idea that the world will fail to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, as part of an argument to combat climate change. Just the opposite: The analysis assumes the planet’s fate is already sealed.”

In other words, the draft report — written and released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — sounds the alarm about climate change, even as the administration moves to freeze stiffer fuel standards for vehicles. The administration’s actions — including pulling out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement and eliminating a host of Obama-era regulations designed to reduce carbon emissions — show conclusively that it plans to do absolutely nothing to prevent this prediction from coming true. 

It is hard to fathom this level of willful ignorance. Deliberately looking the other way when a storm is approaching, denouncing science as fake and steering federal policies in a direction that will directly imperil future generations is a morally bankrupt approach to governance.

Climate change is already affecting Long Island. It is upon us. Last year’s reports by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, based on research conducted by scientists at Columbia University, Cornell University and Hunter College, show that our sea levels are rising twice as fast as the global average. The DEC reports include a high projection of a sea level rise of six feet by 2100. The policies of the Trump administration could make that even worse.

The DEC states that sea levels in New York have already risen by a foot since 1900. “Energy, land use and infrastructure decisions made now will determine how vulnerable our children and grandchildren will be to rising sea levels,” the report states.

A graphic accompanying the report presents low, medium and high projections for sea level rise on Long Island. The medium projections are scary enough. 2020s: Six inches. 2050s: 16 inches. 2080s: 29 inches. 2100: 36 inches.

The high projection for 2100 is 75 inches. Split the difference between a three-foot and a six-foot rise, and even that will leave large swaths of eastern Long Island waterfront, home to some of the country’s most expensive real estate, completely submerged. 

As our tribal culture continues to fracture over divisive issues, this critical threat we all collectively face must be addressed with extreme urgency. It is not a liberal or a conservative matter. Science is science. Willful ignorance is not a viable policy position.

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Papers, photos, letters and maps. Deanna Witte-Walker is regularly surrounded by town documents that are hundreds of years old — and there’s no place she’d rather be. 

Artifacts from 1640 New Haven colonists, as well as other relics, are safekept by the Southold Historical Society. Preserving these 100-year-old documents, Ms. Witte-Walker said, is a major part of her new position as executive director of the Southold Historical Society. 

“Our buildings and artifacts are treasures,” she said. “Part of my role is to make sure all of these things can happen concurrently for the future, so future generations can learn more about Southold’s history.” 

Last Monday, Ms. Witte-Walker of Southold assumed the new role of the organization that aims to educate, preserve, and interpret the town’s history. 

Ms. Witte-Walker will oversee the organization’s programs, events, exhibitions, and fundraising, and stored artifacts in over a dozen historic buildings. She said the director reports directly to the Southold Board of Trustees, where the Board is entrusted in making sure that the Society follows its mission. 

“It gives a sense of the history of Southold … and we try to teach our community about that,” she said. 

Ms. Witte-Walker has been with the historical society since 2011, working as an office manager. She said her connection with volunteers, local businesses, and her two predecessors, Karen Lund-Rooney and Geoffrey Flemming, have helped her succeed.

Ms. Lund-Rooney became executive director in 2015. After a three-month leave of absence, Ms. Lund-Rooney will return to the historical society as grants and museum outreach administrator. 

Ms. Witte-Walker said having worked with two directors, she hopes to build on what each of them did well.

The society’s exhibits motivate locals and visitors to question their identity and culture, she added. 

“You understand more about yourself when you understand where you’ve come from,” she said. 

“It helps us with our own identity, as well as just walking around town … Understanding what things are and how they came to be helps us have a great appreciation for this area.”  

Living in Southold for 20 years, Ms. Witte-Walker said she’s seen some changes. She said this often brings about important discussions about the balance of preserving history and progressing the town.

“That’s the hard thing… We do see things from all points of view,” she said. “If a house is demolished, that has a lot of history, so that’s hard for us. But someone else might say, ‘It’s progress, more business.’ … It becomes a question of, ‘What is progress?’ We’re always looking at that. And, I think this is a very profound group that explores that on a regular basis.” 

Ms. Witte-Walker said she’s thrilled at the prospect of this new position and she’s eager to preserve Southold’s past.

“If we don’t preserve these buildings, we lose sight of how people used to live and how we got to where we are,” she said. “I feel very fortunate to be here and I’m looking forward to see where this position takes me.”

knalepinski@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Deanna Witte-Walker in front of the Southold Town Historic Society building on Main Street. 

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Looking out into the distance during the overnight hours from the 68-foot yacht Prospector is to see nothing but black. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there is no ambient light. Just darkness — until a brilliant bolt of lightning brightens the sky for miles.

“Lightning storms were pretty crazy,” said Drew Wolf, a Greenport High School junior.

There’s no better vantage point to view a lightning storm than the middle of an ocean. In one second, darkness, and in the next “you can see everything for 20 miles,” Drew said.

The lightning storms were just one of the unique sights Drew witnessed this summer during an adventure as a member of Prospector’s crew.

Prospector, as he joined the yacht as a crew member when it was delivered from Hawaii to Australia.

There were the “absolutely beautiful” sunsets and sunrises and the green flashes, a common phenomenon sailors see just after sunset or right before sunrise, when a green spot appears above the sun’s upper rim. And then the dolphins that sounded like torpedoes racing alongside the yacht.

In August, Drew spent 22 days at sea aboard Prospector, helping to deliver it from Hawaii to Sydney in advance of the Sydney-Hobart Race in December. The yacht had arrived in Hawaii after racing from San Francisco in the Pacific Cup race in late July, which it won.

The opportunity for Drew, 16, to join the crew on the most recent journey began much earlier. Tery Glackin, captain of Prospector, brought the idea to Drew’s parents, Heather and Andrew Wolf. Mr. Glackin said Drew had been crewing on other smaller boats since he was about 10 years old and had done some racing locally. Mr. Wolf, who co-chairs the Shelter Island Yacht Club’s junior sailing program, had sailed in the 2015 Transatlantic Race as part of the company known as the Shelter Island Transatlantic Partners. The company was set up in advance of the 2015 Transatlantic Race and has continued since with additional races.

Drew, who has been sailing all his life, said the opportunity to join the crew on a boat like Prospector on a trip across the Pacific was a dream come true. He was part of a 10-person crew, smaller than the usual 18 or 19 when racing, and was responsible for multiple jobs, just like everyone else, during the approximately 5,000-mile journey.

“He far surpassed my expectations,” said Mr. Glackin, noting that it was unusual to have someone as young as Drew on board. “He was great helming and driving on his watch. He was a great help in every aspect.”

For all the beauty of sailing on the ocean, the long trips can be a grind, Mr. Glackin said.

“He had a phenomenal attitude the entire time and he was great to have,” Mr. Glackin said.

Drew said it was a more a relaxed environment with lower stakes compared to when the yacht is racing, but at the same time, with a smaller than normal crew, the work could still get intense. Mr. Glackin described the yacht’s speed and the crew’s pace in terms of percentages. While racing, the crew sails the yacht in the upper 90s. On delivery runs,that percentage dips only to the high 80s.

A view of Prospector. (Credit: Courtesy photo)

The first leg of the journey took the crew from Hawaii to Port Denarau, on the main island of Fiji. On the second leg, the crew was worried about a front coming through and bringing poor weather, so they stepped up their effort. The boat began cruising at near race speed.

“The guys are kind of funny. They stopped calling it just a delivery; it’s a performance delivery,” Mr. Glackin said. “We were probably averaging the mid-90s, not too far below the race performance.”

One of the thrills for Drew was crossing the equator on Aug. 8. Tradition has it that sailors celebrate their first crossing of that line. In keeping with that tradition, Drew’s head was shaved into a Mohawk and he got to call himself a “time traveler” for that moment, when he essentially gained a day.

Drew now has his sights set on joining the crew of Prospector for future races. His father is already set to be part of its crew for the Sydney-Hobart Race. Drew will travel with him, and will help during sail testing and training in the days leading up to the competition.

“My goal is to work [Drew] into the race crew in 2019 because he’s a valuable asset and he’s real good on the boat,” the captain said.

Drew said Prospector’s owners and his fellow crew members were “the most generous people you could meet.” He also thanked his parents for the opportunity and said they “were amazing throughout the process.”

When he arrived back to Greenport, Drew had little time to recover from his jet-lag before reporting for soccer practice and catching up on his summer school assignments in preparation for his junior year of high school .

“I got it done,” he said.

Top photo caption: Drew sails Prospector in the Pacific Ocean in August. (Credit: Courtesy photo) 

joew@timesreview.com

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A historic 1700s-era home will find a new life in Southold.

The Peconic Land Trust is preparing the site at the southwest corner of Horton’s Lane and County Road 48, known as Cleo’s Corner, for the relocation of the Lieutenant Moses Case House in November.

A new foundation will be poured to support the Case House, which is currently located a half-mile away, just east of Southold Square on Route 48.

Dan Heston, senior manager of agricultural programs at the Peconic Land Trust, said the move is weather-dependent and will cut through farmland across Youngs Avenue. It’s the second time the Land Trust will undertake moving a historic home; a 1930s farmhouse in Sagaponack was relocated in 2011.

The Land Trust owns a sprawling, nearly 100 acres of land both north and south of Route 48 which is leased to new and existing farm operations. The relocation and subsequent restoration will re-establish a farmstead at Cleo’s Corner, on five acres of protected farmland already owned by the Land Trust. 

Mr. Heston said the home will be used as part of the Farms for the Future initiative, a five-year program that aims to protect the future of farming on Long Island by encourage young people to get involved. 

“Ideally, we would have one of our graduates from our program live in the house and farm this land,” Mr. Heston said.

In the meantime, it will be used to house farmers who are currently enrolled in the program. Since launching in 2015, 27 farmers are involved on the program on both forks, Mr. Heston said.

John Halsey, president of the Peconic Land Trust, said the project combines farmland conservation and historic preservation, two facets of their mission. 

“It is a unique model of how the past and present can not only coexist, but also sustain one another,” he said.

Once the relocation is complete, the real work begins, according to project manager Holly Sanford. “The team we assembled is very enthusiastic. They’re going to have a lot of fun on this,” she said. That team includes historic architect John Cunniffe of Cunniffe Architects, master craftsman Scott Brown of Antique Carpenter and historic house mover Stanley Kazel of Dawn Movers who will oversee restorations to the exterior and interior of the home.

The home, built one year before the marriage of Moses Luther Case to Mary Hutchinson, features a Colonial double-cape design and was renovated to reflect Greek Revival architecture trends around 1840. 

According to Southold Town historian Amy Folk, the home has been located in at least two different locations in Southold, but originally stood on the south side of Main Road in Peconic. She said the relocation project was exciting since it will preserve original period architecture. 

“I’m always thrilled whenever we can take an old building and repurpose it,” Ms. Folk said.

Mr. Heston will help plan and execute the renovations to transform the interior into a functional living space. He has experience restoring old homes and lives in a similar cape built in 1798 in Cutchogue. “We restored it meticulously,” he said. 

The inside, he said, will be an interesting melding of styles while the exterior will appear true to its roots. “We’ve got to live in it, and they didn’t have bathrooms in 1750,” he said with a laugh. 

The home fascinates Mr. Heston, who pointed out wide floorboards and intricate details. “The beauty of this house is that it’s amazingly complete,” he said. “It’s going to look great when it’s finished.”

The home will also get a new roof, windows and a new kitchen, he said.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said the town’s historic structures are “overlooked attributes of Southold’s character,” and he supports protecting them. “The Peconic Land Trust’s willingness to take on such a substantial project is commendable,” Mr. Russell said.

Ms. Sanford said the entire restoration process is expected to reach completion by January 2020 and will cost $500,000, funded both though grants and public donors. 

“We decided that rather than lose the house to potential demolition, that we would incorporate it into our stewardship,” she said.

Tim Caufield, a senior adviser with the Peconic Land Trust, said the home will help preserve the local legacy of Moses Case, “connecting it to our agricultural heritage, present and future.”

Moses Case (1923-1814) was active in the Southold militia as a Lieutenant during the Revolutionary War and signed the Articles of Association in 1774.  

Cleo’s Corner was donated to the Peconic Land Trust by Anne and Tom Hubbard in 2011, as part of a total of three parcels that included the house lot and two open farm fields, totaling 5.7 acres.

tsmith@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Moses Case House will be moved in November. (Tara Smith photo)

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At stake on July 17, 1941, was more than an extension of his already-famous hitting streak. When the great Yankee Clipper Joe DiMaggio arrived that day at Cleveland Stadium, a massive crowd of 67,468 awaited to see if he could extend his hitting streak to 57 games.

Unbeknownst to everyone at the ballpark that day, DiMaggio had an offer for $10,000 on the table if he could hit safely in one more game. The offer was part of a promotion from Heinz to endorse their Heinz 57 products, as Richard Ben Cramer recounted in the book “The Hero’s Life.”

The big crowd that day witnessed history by seeing the streak end; DiMaggio went 0-3 with a walk. All these years later, the closest another hitter has gotten to match that streak is 45.

Eddie Amodeo of Calverton often thinks back to that game and the streak. It was that 57th game that Mr. Amodeo has been so fascinated with over the past decade.

“One of the players after the game, they saw Joe DiMaggio roll up a piece of paper and throw it in the garbage,” Amodeo said. “And so for the heck of it, he walked over there, opened it up, and sure enough, it was a letter talking about the $10,000.”

The next day after DiMaggio’s streak ended, a famous artist from London named Burris Jenkins drew a large cartoon in honor of the historic moment. The cartoon depicted a sea battle. A ship on the bottom left was labeled “Smith and Bagby,” in reference to the Indians’ pitchers Al Smith and Jim Bagby. Another ship in the distance was labeled “Yankee Clippers.” An image of DiMaggio batting in the clouds hovers above the sea and on the left side it reads “The 57th Game!”

The artist wrote on the bottom:

“Compliments

Burris Jenkins

7/18/41”

It was back in 2007 at a yard sale in Wading River when Mr. Amodeo stumbled upon the hidden treasure.

“I said to the lady at the yard sale, ‘Where did you get this?’ he recalled. “She said, ‘Well, that’s from my grandfather.’ ”

She asked for $5 for it and he offered her $2. She accepted.

From there, Mr. Amodeo began researching the poster, which was framed in laminate. He couldn’t find anything specifically related to the poster he had found. It was as if he had the only copy.

He brought it to an appraiser who estimated it might be worth about $1,500. That was a decade ago.

“I didn’t know what to do with it,” he said.

Mr. Amodeo, who grew up a Yankees fan and has lived in Calverton since 1973, connected with a Yankees official who deals with merchandising. From there, he connected with DiMaggio’s granddaughter Paula Hamra and her husband, Jim. They referred him to DiMaggio’s estate lawyer, Morris Engelberg, who co-wrote the book “DiMaggio: Setting the Record Straight.”

Around that time, Mr. Amodeo contacted the Baseball Hall of Fame to gauge interest from the museum. He sent the museum a picture and they requested to see the original. He brought it to Cooperstown for a curator to examine. And then it needed to be brought in front of the museum’s board.

“About two weeks later, he said they loved it,” Mr. Amodeo said.

In the meantime, Mr. Amodeo and Mr. Engelberg were going back and forth about potential licensing agreements related to the poster. Mr. Amodeo had prints made that he hoped he could sell. Mr. Engelberg eventually agreed to gift a licensing agreement.

Mr. Amodeo, a disabled veteran who had served in Vietnam and then the Air National Guard for 25 years, hoped to distribute some of the poster prints to charities and possibly sell a few.

“I have probably about six left,” he said.

He’s hoping now to get in touch with the Yankees again and the Indians to distribute some 8 x 10s of the poster.

The original remains in possession of the Hall of Fame under the title “DiMaggio’s Streak cartoon.”

Mr. Amodeo, who has trouble traveling these days, hopes to make it up to the Hall of Fame one more time to see the original. A spokesperson for the Hall of Fame said the poster is not currently on display. The museum currently has about 40,000 “three-dimensional pieces,” which include artwork, and only about 15 percent are on display at a given time.

“I would love to see it,” Mr. Amodeo said.

By now, Mr. Amodeo said his wife, Beverly, has grown tired of his fascination with the poster.

“She wants to shoot me with this Joe DiMaggio thing,” he said with a laugh. “I had a passion for it. It’s been a long project.”

Photo caption: A print of the Joe DiMaggio poster. (Courtesy photo)

The author is the editor of the Riverhead News-Review and The Suffolk Times. He can be reached at 631-354-8049 or joew@timesreview.com.

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When Southold Town switched to single-stream recycling in 2014, the benefits outlined were multi-fold: A projected increase of 20 percent in recycling, decreased costs on the overall cost of garbage disposal and added convenience for residents.

Four years later, while recycling has increased, according to solid waste coordinator Jim Bunchuck, unintended consequences and changes in the global market may force Southold Town to reconsider how it approaches recycling.

Mr. Bunchuck met with the Southold Town Board earlier this month at a work session and expressed the need to look deeper into how recycling is handled in Southold. Part of the concern stems from changes overseas. In January, China began a ban on imports of various types of plastic and paper as part of an anti-pollution campaign. China used to take a large amount of contaminants, or non-recyclables, which encouraged municipalities to switch to single-stream recycling, but since it is trying to develop its own recycling market, the U.S. is left with unsold materials.

“It used to be ‘when in doubt, throw it out,’ and now it’s ‘when it doubt put it in the recycling bin,’ ” Mr. Bunchuck said. “Now that we’re relying on domestic markets, they’re much more picky and they don’t want that waste, so it’s costly.”

Although single-stream recycling increased the amount of recyclables received, it also increased the amount of unrecyclable materials that ended up in the mix. In 2012, before single stream was implemented, Southold measured about 2,829 tons of cardboard, cans, glass, plastic, and paper. In 2015, that number went up to 3,127 tons, according to Solid Waste District annual reports.

He said in an interview that residents should be aware changes may come soon.

The Southold Transfer Station on Cox Lane in Cutchogue. (Rachel Siford photo)

A consequence of single stream is that glass breaks very easily as it passes through the system and it gets caught up in the paper and cardboard sections.

In 2008, an estimated 600 tons of glass were taken in at the Southold Transfer Station, and that number has likely increased due to the boom of the wine industry. The town does not have exact numbers since single-stream recycling was introduced because glass has not been measured separately.

In the first full year of single-stream recycling, the town had a net savings of approximately $30,000, according to a Southold Town Solid Waste District annual report from 2015.

“I think initially there might be an effort to separate glass from the single stream, but we haven’t been told to do that yet,” Mr. Bunchuck said. “What they’re really asking people to do is to clean up the recycling stream, and the phrase they’re using is ‘recycle right.’ ”

“Recycle right” is something residents can expect to hear as part of a public awareness campaign aimed at encouraging people to avoid putting materials in the recycling bin that aren’t on the official list. When they do, it slows down the sorting process and jams up equipment.

Mr. Bunchuck has joined the recycling subcommittee of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Long Island Solid Waste Management Council. Its goal is to report findings about recycling in municipalities by the end of October. After that, the town and state will decide if new guidelines should be set.

Southold has an inter-municipal agreement with the Town of Brookhaven, which has agreed to pay $15 per ton of recyclables until 2024. That generates about $43,000 of revenue annually for Southold.

“We haven’t been told that’s in jeopardy yet, but I think, given what we see happening, I don’t want to automatically count on that again next year,” Mr. Bunchuck said. “We’re probably going to change that revenue line in the budget.”

Mr. Bunchuck said it’s conceivable that at some point in the future there will be more sorting, and that perhaps a dual-stream system, as was used in years past, would work better.

“In a sense you can see why that is helpful, because everything is all sorted; but on the other hand, a lot of people don’t want to go to that effort,” he said. “Recyclables will get thrown in the garbage because people don’t have the space or the time to do all that sorting.”

rsiford@timesreview.com 

Photo caption: The Southold Transfer Station, where residents dump trash and recyclables, clearly states ‘No Plastic Bags.’ However, that is one of the most common contaminants in the recycling stream.

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Former Mattituck resident Cheryl Lynn Lessard of Cutchogue died Oct. 6, 2018, at Stony Brook University Hospital. She was 61.

Born in Greenport May 8, 1957, she was the daughter of Nancy (Loper) and Louis Lessard.

She was a member of the Women of the Moose and a communicant of Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church in Mattituck.

Cheryl is survived by her sisters, Judy Sadeli (Bambi) of Jamesport and Robin Kilgallen of Calverton; nieces and nephew, Erika (Bryan) Wieden, Melanie (Freddy) Lorenz, Jen (Steve) Stoeckert and Brian (Angela) Sadeli and great-nieces and great-nephews, Joshua, Jessica, Connor, Caleb, Lucas, Maya and Sean. She was predeceased by her brother, Gary Lessard.

The family will receive visitors Monday, Oct. 8, from 5 to 8 p.m. at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck. Religious services will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9, at the funeral home, officiated by Father Peter Garry. Interment will follow at Sacred Heart R.C. Cemetery in Cutchogue.

This is a paid notice. 

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A state audit has revealed a discrepancy in routine purchase order approvals in the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District, totaling $61,109.

The audit covered the period from July 1, 2016, though Jan. 31, 2018. It found that the district’s claims auditor approved 12 purchases with confirming purchase orders, meaning that the orders were issued after the items had already been ordered or received. For example, a purchase of 30 desktop computers costing $44,670 was made June 1, 2016, and the confirming purchase order was issued 11 days later, according to an audit by the state comptroller, which released its findings Friday.

Confirming purchase orders should not be allowed except for emergency purchases, auditors said.

“Although all of these purchases appeared to be reasonable and for appropriate purposes, the routine use of confirming purchase orders circumvents internal controls and weakens the procurement and budget control process,” auditors said.

Superintendent Jill Gierasch, who began her role in the district in August, acknowledged the mishaps in a response letter dated Sept. 21 and said steps have been taken to address them.

In September 2017, she noted, the district implemented financial software that requires all purchase orders to have a dated and approved requisition before it can be prepared. Staff will also receive additional training on the district’s purchasing policy and a memo will be sent to anyone who initiates a confirming purchase order, reminding them it is against policy, Ms. Gierasch said in the letter.

The audit noted that following proper procedure for processing claims helps control expenditures, ensures that purchases are properly authorized and reduces the risk of fraud.

During the audit period, district officials paid 3,786 nonpayroll general fund claims totaling $26.5 million. Auditors reviewed 71 of those claims totaling $143,757, which contained 198 invoices and purchase orders. Auditors reviewed the claims to verify that they were for legitimate expenses and properly authorized.

Auditors recommended that the district enforce its policy of disallowing confirming purchase orders and that its claims auditor should verify that each purchase has an approved purchase order before placing any orders. 

“The district has taken actions based on the report and will continue to focus on improving our fiscal and operational controls,” Ms. Gierasch said.

joew@timesreview.com

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The spectacular is great for highlight reels and “SportsCenter,” but Frank Massa is more than content with making the routine plays, well, routine.

What the Mattituck High School girls volleyball coach wants to see is consistency on passes being made that should be made and sets being made that should be made.

He said: “I tell the girls, ‘You’re going to make spectacular plays because we’re going to have girls diving all over the floor, and that’s spectacular. That’s going to happen no matter what. What we need is that ball that’s floating over the net, you know, following the ball, getting underneath it and making a nice pass and then making a nice set and getting a good swing on the ball.’ Forget the spectacular, I just like the routine.”

That made what Massa saw from his players Monday morning all the more uplifting. The Tuckers played as if they were on automatic pilot from start to finish, turning in a clean three-set win over visiting Babylon, 25-9, 25-13, 25-14. Certainly, there were spectacular moments — most notably on thunderous hits by the high-flying Viki Harkin — but most of it was routine, consistently routine, with no hiccups along the way.

“Everything’s determined by the first pass, so it’s getting the right first pass, then getting the right set, then getting the right hit,” Mattituck outside hitter Charlotte Keil said. “Everything came together nicely.”

While lacking the flash of spectacular, routine can do a lot for a team. In this case, it could lead Mattituck (9-1, 8-0 Suffolk County League VIII) to its first league championship since 2004. The Tuckers look as if they are rolling in that direction. With the exception of three four-setters, all of their matches have been decided in three sets.

“I think, especially for our seniors, we want it a lot,” said Keil, a junior. “I think that would mean everything to us.”

With every league match, Mattituck has taken a step closer toward becoming a champion.

Harkin looked as good as ever Monday, springboarding up to the net and crushing venomous drives. She finished with 12 kills and two service aces from 12-for-12 serving. Ashley Young brought Mattituck 17 assists, two aces and two kills.

But Mattituck brings more to the floor than just those two. Keil showed she can hit, too. She put away five of her six kills in the second set, including four in a row that made the score 23-12 Mattituck.

“I think she’s amazing,” Mattituck defensive specialist Emily McKillop said. “I think that she’s definitely one of our best hitters and I think she can pretty much work with anything she’s given. I think she’s such a great asset for our team to have in the front row.”

Keil’s older sister, Caroline Keil, played for Mattituck as a middle hitter. But Charlotte is more of an offensive threat with her hitting ability.

“She’s got no fear that woman, no fear whatsoever,” Massa said. “She’s progressing, there’s no doubt about it. She’s starting to take more advantage of the sets that she’s getting and she’s more confident in her swinging, so have at it.

“She plays right side, she plays outside. Stick her anywhere in the front row, she’s tall, lanky, she’ll block, she’ll push, she’ll touch — all the things that you need somebody in the front row to do.”

With new setters in Miranda Hedges and Young, it may have taken Mattituck’s hitting game a little time to kick into full gear this year.

“In the beginning of the season, after having some time off, it was kind of tough to get my timing down right,” Keil said. She added, “Everything’s starting to come together now, so I think that’s helped my hitting a lot, and everyone’s hitting.”

Rylie Skrezec and Rachel Janis can also swing at the ball pretty well. “Those are girls we can trust with the ball,” said McKillop.

Mattituck compiled 26 kills to eight by Babylon (3-5, 2-4) and served at 95 percent.

Now, Coach Massa, how about the prospect of the team’s first league title in 14 years?

“We get closer and closer and that would be something nice,” he said. “I’d be lying to you if [I told you] that wasn’t on our minds to win a league title, but I keep on bringing back 2004, the last time we won the league title and ended up losing in the [county] final. The league title is nice, but that’s really the first step. Once the playoffs start, that’s what really counts. I mean, winning the league title shows consistency over the season, but you want to be able to perform when the big games come up.”

“We’re doing OK,” he said. “We need to play like this every time out, and it’s getting to crunch time, so we’re going to have to step it up.”

So, he tells his players, forget about the spectacular and focus on the routine.

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: The Mattituck players, led by middle hittler Rachel Janis (7) take the court against Babylon in Monday’s matinee. (Credit: Bob Liepa)

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